User blog:KeithCornell/Champion Rework - Cho'Gath, the Terror of the Void
Ah, , how long has it been? Yes, today I am tackling a rather old champion, in an attempt to bring him up to date. Of course, with a kit as old as his, good old Cho comes with his fair share of problems: mana consumption is off the charts, cooldowns are high, abilities feel clunky at times (looking at you ), and in the end he feels a bit lackluster, unless the meta is good with both assassins (that he counters) and him, because if he's too weak, he tends not to actually counter them. Also, he needs to stray away from the mentality of "I'll be topped off in top lane forever until it's pushing the enemy base" that his passive's sustain tend to let him do rather effectively as long as you last hit. This rework, aside from attempting to smooth out his kit in general, will take the direction of what he is supposed to look like: an AP Juggernaut. He will also feature the Void champions' trademark instability ( and 's mana costs come to mind) in the form of his mana pool emptying itself and filling itself back up just as fast. Instability often means power, so expect power where it might be... everywhere, really. Scrapped with the hotfix. Abilities ''Cho'Gath's level'') health. |description2 = On a champion takedown, Cho'Gath instead restores 7 ( ''Cho'Gath's level'') % of his maximum health. |targeting='Consumer' is a self-targeted heal ability. |damagetype= |spelleffects= |onhiteffects= |spellshield= |additional= * Mostly buffs and rounding Cho's base stats. His health and armor have been lowered early: 550 health and 25 armor (from 574.4 health and 28.88 armor) isn't a lot for a champion like Cho'Gath who is supposed to be a tanky beast. To compensate and actually give the feeling of a juggernaut at least late-game, his growths have been raised to 95 health and 4 armor from 85 health and 3.5 armor. His attack speed growth also went up because Cho'Gath actually wants to be melee at one point, and let's just say 2.94% attack speed growth (actually barely above Garen's own 2.9%) will help him far more than 1.44%. His movement speed has been lowered in comparison, from 345 to a very slow 325, befitting of a juggernaut, once again. * For his mana and regeneration stats, I will tie the explanation with the passive changes. His passive now restores just as much mana as it does health. Which means that comparatively, his mana restoration will be much more significant. Therefore, I let his health regeneration remain one of the best in the game. As for his mana regen, I gutted it as much as possible: his base went from to 4. Since its mana regen growth was already bad I just let it as it was. It's not helping any mana issue in this state anyway and Cho'Gath will have to rely on Consumer for it. Also, I realized giving Cho'Gath the mana pool of a mage prevented his mana costs from being significant, so I also gave him one of the worst mana pools in the game: I lowered his base mana from 272.2 to 240 and his mana growth from 40 to an extremely low 30. * Hotfix: Cho'Gath got the mana pool and regeneration of a mage now. He is still going to output lots of damage, but since Consumer no longer gives him any mana, keeping a watch on his mana bar is just as relevant. }} Cho'Gath stomps the ground, causing target area to rupture after a up to -second, dealing magic damage and enemies hit for 1 second, and then afflicting them with a 60% decaying steadily over its duration. |leveling = |range = | }} |cooldown = |cost = |costtype = mana |targeting='Vacuum Quake' is a ground targeted area of effect. |damagetype=magic |spelleffects=area of effect |onhiteffects= |spellshield=Will block the ability |additional= * This skill didn't really change a lot. I raised its range, but to hit so far you have to really telegraph it, because the delay to hit far is higher, and the progress of the quake is visible to compensate for its variability. It also means it is much more reliable at close-range, since apart from the cast time, it is instantaneous at point blank. Its cooldown also gets lower and lower with levels, but it is recommended not to spam it, as it will still drain big Cho's mana bar very fast unless you're farming minions with it. * Hotfix: The cooldown gets even lower, since Feast is somewhat unreliable, so Cho can still operate as a reliable crowd control machine.}} After a -second cast time, Cho'Gath roars in the target direction, dealing magic damage to enemies in a wide line, them and afflicting them with a 60% that decays over a short duration. |leveling = |range = 700 |cooldown = |cost = |costtype = mana |targeting='Feral Scream' is a linear area of effect. |damagetype=magic |spelleffects=area of effect |onhiteffects= |spellshield=will block the ability. |additional= * Feral Scream is a strange case: its silence is what makes Cho'Gath one of the best assassin counters in the game, but at the same time, in any other matchup, Feral Scream is only used for its damage. It is also the biggest reason you don't want to approach Cho: landing Feral Scream makes it easier for him to knock you up, and landing it means he won the fight more often then not. So first things first, lower the silence's oppressive duration by half a second. Then making it a line area of effect in the vein of would be better than a cone, especially one that's so large anyway. Since it's still going to be very reliable, I toned down the damage and cooldown, so that its CC remains its big attract. Once again, it remains Cho'Gath's main dissuasion weapon since the additional slow on it now completely ensures that Q is going to land. * Hotfix: Even less downtime as time goes on, so Cho can still have a strong teamfight presence. The damage also has been restored to what it was pre-change.}} Cho'Gath's basic attacks consume mana and make spines erupt from the ground in a line, dealing magic damage. |leveling = |cost = |costtype = mana per attack |range = 1000 |targeting='Vorpal Spikes' adds an on-attack effect to Cho'Gath's attacks. The effect causes Cho'Gath's attacks to launch a linear, pass-through skill shot in the direction of his target. |damagetype=magical |spelleffects=area of effect |onhiteffects= |spellshield=do not block the ability. |additional= * This change doesn't look significant, but Vorpal Spikes need to change from what it was: you could just let it be toggled on forever and stop even thinking about it. Not anymore. Mana gets consumed on every auto-attack, and while it does make more of Cho'Gath's increased attack speed growth, its cost adds up rather quickly. Damage buffs and a doubled range makes it a considerable option, though. Otherwise, cosmetic change, because Vorpal Spikes currently doesn't look all that coherent. The spikes take time to come out though, since the projectile speed doesn't change, so even if it becomes usable for harass, it's easily avoidable.}} Cho'Gath now displays a Fed meter, that caps at 100 units. It fills with 5% of its damage from basic attacks and Feast, doubled to 10% against champions (before calculating enemy resistances). For each 1% in his Fed meter, Cho'Gath gains bonus health, 1 attack range and size. The Fed meter decays by 4% per second if Feast is off cooldown for 30 seconds. |description2 = Cho'Gath eats the target enemy unit, dealing magic damage. Feast can only be used on an enemy if the damage from it would kill them. If the target was a minion or a monster, the mana cost and 40 seconds of its base cooldown are refunded. |leveling = health}} |leveling2 = |range = Cho'Gath's attack range + 50 |cooldown = |cost = 100 |costtype = mana |targeting='Feast' is a single target ability. |damagetype= |spelleffects=single target |onhiteffects= |spellshield= |additional= * Feast is a rather strange ability. It is the enabler for Cho'Gath's huge health pool, but it's also a true damage nuke that makes him able to literally eat carries lategame. The attract of the skill is making Cho'Gath big, so I'm focusing on this. First, Cho can only target minions, since there's no way to make this interesting in a fight. So, it remains a quick way for Cho to gain bulk, but it's costly now because the mana refund is out. Also, dying now rids you of all your stacks instead of half. * Hotfix: Feast can be used in teamfights, but no more attempting to eat and failing. Otherwise it's been restored to a magic damage dealing pre-change Feast. ** Second change: Now features a Fed meter. I just need to add a little precision: the damage overflow does not count to fill it. Also, when Cho'Gath reaches level 6, the Fed meter is counted as already decaying.}} =Changelog= *** Mana restore removed. *** Now restores 7 ( level)% of Cho'Gath's maximum health on enemy champion takedown. ** *** AP ratio buffed to 100% from 80%. *** Cooldown decreased to 9/8/7/6/5 from 9/ /8/ /7. *** Knockback removed. ** *** Damage increased to 75/125/175/225/275 from 70/115/160/205/250 . *** Cooldown modified to 13/11/9/7/5 from 12/11/10/9/8. ** *** Damage increased to 25/55/85/115/145 from 20/40/60/80/100 . ** *** Cooldown increased to 80/70/60 seconds from 40/35/30. *** Can only be used if it is a killing blow. *** Can be used on champions. Damage on champions: 300/475/650 . *** Mana and cooldown refund on minion or monster kill reimplemented. *** Champion kills with Feast grant 2 stacks. * Second change: ** General: *** Base armor increased to 29 from 25. ** *** Now refunds 40 seconds of its base cooldown on minion or monster kill from half. *** Now features a Fed meter that fills with basic attacks and Feast. Filling the meter grants Cho'Gath bonus health, size and range. The meter empties itself if Feast is off cooldown too long. * 20/03/2016: Fixed mana costs on Vacuum Quake and Feral Scream to 100/95/90/85/80 from 80/85/90/95/100. }} So how did you think it turns out? Am I making him less interesting, overpowered, or completely worthless? Have I stripped him of his identity? Tell me what you think below! Category:Custom champions